The mattress you use every night is also a place where hundreds of invisible bacteria accumulate. Plus, stains and odors build up over time. It is therefore very important to know how to take care and maintain it. And be prepared to act with each stain.
The first thing you need to know is that the mattress needs to be cleaned. Yes, it is not enough to make the bed every day and change the sheets once a week or fortnightly. The mattress, like any element of fabric and daily use, needs a care that hardly anyone gives it.
It is the great haunt of dust mites, fungi and bacteria. It can harbor hundreds of thousands of them and can therefore be an excellent carrier of allergies. It is that these insects accumulate and with the heat of the body and the skin that we lose every night, they find an ideal home to develop. Even when they are dead, if they are not removed from the mattress, they also continue to cause discomfort.
All you have to do is get to work and practice a very simple and quick daily cleaning routine so that every night when you return to bed, you feel the pleasure of lying on a clean, bacteria-free mattress. and mites. In case of stains or odors, there are also different solutions that you can read later.
Daily routine: What to do before making the bed
This daily chore that you can do in a hurry before you go to work, leave it for the night or not, is, to be honest, a bit boring. Making the bed is a practice as hated as it is loved. Should I do it every morning? Ideally, yes, but for those who don't usually, there is some very good news.
The bed needs to breathe. There are traces of mites and bacteria on the sheets that need to be removed, but before shaking them out and shaking the mattress, they need to be aired. To make the bed, you have to wait at least two hours. This allows body heat to dissipate, nighttime humidity to dry out, and air to destroy those unwanted creatures.
Making the bed as soon as you get up allows the proliferation of bacteria and mites because it leaves them with the heat and humidity of the night in a perfect nest. Fans of leaving everything for the end have their victory here. If you need to make the bed before going to work or coming home, it's the last thing to do, so let it air out.
However, that's not all. When you get ready to go out, ideally you open your bedroom windows to let in the air and the bed to ventilate. After that, the best is that you can shake out the bedspread, sheets, pillows and pat the mattress to remove all unwanted elements. From dead skin to fungi and mites. Outdoor air and any shaking will improve the state of your rest.
The mattress should be cleaned at least once a month. You can vacuum it to remove traces of bacteria, mites, fungi and dead skin, but you also have to rotate it so that it retains its shape over time. This ventilates it from all sides and does not allow any of its faces to remain dirty and unventilated.
Now, what if there are stains?
If you practice your daily routine to keep the mattress in top condition but you spilled coffee or your pet vomited on the bed or one of your children peed on it or you just suffered an accident that stained the mattress, there is no need to despair. The mattress lasts for years if you maintain and care for it. Go for it.
To clean the mattress, it is necessary to take into account the time of day. If the accident happens at night, you can do a superficial cleaning and devote yourself to removing the stains in the morning.
It must be done very early so that the mattress dries properly and does not accumulate moisture. This can bring mold and create an unpleasant odor. In addition, as different products will be used, they must be able to dry properly so as not to cause allergies.
Your allies when cleaning the mattress will be: baking soda, lemon water, hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, liquid soap and detergent. You may be able to find specific products on the market, but you don't need to spend a large amount of money to take care of your mattress. With patience and a few of these ingredients on hand, you can remove almost any stain.
For vomiting
The biggest problem with vomiting occurs when it dries up. It is more difficult to remove it but it is not an impossible task. A mixture of white vinegar, warm water and liquid soap will help. Dampen a cloth in this mixture and rub the mattress until the vomit disappears. If there is a yellow halo around it, keep rubbing the stain until it disappears.
If that doesn't work, another alternative is to mix water with lemon. Lemon acid is a great cleanser for anything you can think of. And if none of this works, you can opt for a specific cleaner for these stains sold in supermarkets or in specialized stores.
For urine
The king of cooking and cleaning is baking soda. It is used to lift cakes, clean toilets, unclog drains and even fabrics. Therefore, a good idea is to buy a kilo and save it. It is very useful and will get you out of trouble.
If there is a urine stain, fill a cup with baking soda and add just a little water. Place it in the stained area and cover the mattress with a large piece of plastic so that the baking soda acts between 6 and 8 hours. If you must leave it for a few more hours, do so but don't overdo it. Then remove the plastic and vacuum or shake off the dried baking soda powder. The stain should have been removed.
For the rules
If this has happened, you can go back to the lemon water mixture, which in addition to helping the stain, will eliminate the unpleasant odor it produced. To do this, you need to boil a liter of water with the juice of 1 lemon. Once cooled, you need to pour it into a spray bottle and spray the stain. You leave it on until it dries and if it is not completely removed, you can wipe it with a cloth soaked in liquid soap. Sacred remedy.
For sweats
For these stains, the mixture of water with lemon that you read about in the previous case is useful, but also white vinegar with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. If you're starting to use white vinegar, it's best to pour it into a spray bottle and then spray it on the stain. The vinegar should work for at least five minutes, but no more.
Then sprinkle two or three tablespoons of baking soda, just enough to cover the stain. It should start fizzing until dry. Once dry, it must be removed with a vacuum cleaner or shaken. The stain should be gone.
If there is still some left, you can use hydrogen peroxide, but as it is very resistant and can damage the mattress, do the test on one end first. If it doesn't bleach or damage the fabric, spray a little on the stain with a spray bottle or a rag. Let it go and see if it's gone.
For the blood
The key ingredient is hydrogen peroxide as it is able to dissolve and also whitens the mattress. But you have to be very careful.
Dip a cloth in hydrogen peroxide and rub the bloodstain for a few minutes, until it begins to break down. Leave it for a while, until it dries, if the mattress is white, the hydrogen peroxide will whiten it. If it has colors, it will damage it, so be very careful.
For complex tasks
For really tough stains, there's a never-failing mixture of two parts baking soda with two parts white vinegar and one part detergent. Mix, pour into a spray bottle and spray on any stains. Leave it for a few hours and you will see that the stain has disappeared.
Another option is to mix baking soda with hydrogen peroxide, but care should be taken with colored mattresses due to the bleaching power of hydrogen peroxide. Of course, this mixture is almost infallible.
So, if you've had an accident and want to extend the life of your mattress, you can follow these tips. Maybe you are keeping a family secret or your grandmother or this article reminds you of them. If so, share it. Often, it is enough to know the right formulas to be able to solve the problems only with the ingredients that we have on hand.
Each cupboard contains alchemical potions useful for everything. Of course, products created specifically to clean certain stains are also helpful, but until then, just know how to use what you keep.
Remember that a clean mattress, in good condition and well maintained, will give you better rest. There is nothing more beautiful than lying down after a hard day and being able to close your eyes and feel your body relaxed by the smell of perfume and the cleanliness of the bed. All you have to do is set up a daily routine and enjoy it.
